Thanks to all who joined us for our annual Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize ceremony this year at Southbank Centre 🎊 It was a joy to celebrate our three winners Flora Beagley, Luke Liu, Jo Bardsley (Fiction), and all of our shortlistees! The 2026 Prize will open next year — until then!

We’re thrilled to reveal the cover of our winter 2025 issue, Wasafiri 124: Presencia y Resistencia — British Latinx Writing & Art! Guest co-edited by Leo Boix and Karina Lickorish Quinn, the issue critically explores the vibrancy and creativity of the British Latinx communities.

It's time for our annual festive sale! ❄️🎁 We've curated bundles of four magazines each based on specific themes, contributors, and regions. Each bundle is on sale for £30 only, saving you 40%! Shop now: buff.ly/1gDBef9 Sale ends Monday, 1 December

Join Deepa Bhasthi – our inaugural International Translator in Residence – for her second online workshop next Saturday, 22 November. This is a unique opportunity for an intimate learning experience with an International Booker Prize-winning translator.

Wasafiri is a fantastic resource for students and scholars of literature, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and the humanities more widely. If you're a university student or academic, speak to your library about taking out an institutional digital subscription to Wasafiri: buff.ly/d1D44g4

It was a delight to host writer and translator @antonhur.com for a brilliant, punchy public lecture here in London on Korean literature in translation, literary prizes, race and discrimination in the publishing industry, and what success as a writer really means. Thanks to all for coming!

Shastri Akella reads from his short story, ‘Hail the Vande Mataram!' – published in Wasafiri 123. The story imagines a childhood friendship between the nephew of a freedom fighter and the son of British colonial officer General Dyer, in the weeks leading up to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Thank you to Wasafiri, and to Sam Dapanas for their incisive, deeply attuned questions. What a pleasure to chat ANNAH, INFINITE as speculative nonfiction and translation of a painting, the 1965 genocide, refusing ableist biases in art and literature, and more. #CripLit #Xl8

Alton Melvar M Dapanas speaks to @mailbykite.bsky.social on how her latest book ANNAH, INFINITE reshapes speculative nonfiction, and disputes the racial, gendered, and ableist biases of fraught literary and artistic spaces. Read now: buff.ly/YrKYEPD

It was a packed room for our Toxic Love & Borders event with Sophie Chauhan, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, lisa minerva luxx, & Vida Adamczewski ✨ The poetry afternoon was held at whitechapelgallery.bsky.social in partnership with the Centre for Contemporary Writing (QMUL) & @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social.

Congratulations to Wasafiri friends and contributors @juanapoetry.bsky.social, Don Mee Choi, Han Kang, and George Szirtes on gaining a place on the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Longlist 2025! 🙌

If you missed our annual New Writing Prize ceremony last week, here's what our stellar judges had to say on the winners' work ... The winning pieces will be published in print in our Spring 2026 issue, so watch this space. Congratulations once again to Jo Bardsley, Flora Beagley, and Luke Liu!

Read an extract from @suchmayer.bsky.social's forthcoming book, BAD LANGUAGE, a blend of memoir and manifesto exploring the politics of speech, and how language has been used – and abused – collectively and in their own life.

Nobel Prize-winning author and playwright Wole Soyinka has had his US visa revoked under the Trump administration. Wasafiri stands in solidarity with Soyinka in support of free speech and expression for all. We are sharing his words on the power & endurance of literature from Wasafiri's 1993 issue

Sarah Magnatta – Assistant Professor of Global Contemporary Art – introduces her Art essay in our latest issue, Wasafiri 123. As part of the issue's special section on Tibet, she writes on artist Tenzing Rigdol's exhibition BIOGRAPHY OF A THOUGHT, held at the MET in 2024.

Franklyn Usouwa's acerbic short story is a satire set in an unnamed African country. Through a fictional character named Bobo, Usouwa critiques systems of censorship, repression, unbridled technological growth, and more. buff.ly/puXJCe8

Part of our Writing the Self, Writing Berlin series, three Berlin-based writers – @Rajeevbalasu, Vijay Khurana & @DenizUtlu – sat down for a filmed conversation with Wasafiri's @DivyaGhelani on what it means to write in Berlin today. Watch now: buff.ly/PEpBfh6

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize! 🌟 Poetry: Flora Beagley for ‘Sutton Hoo’ 🌟 Fiction: @jobardsley.bsky.social for ‘Iko of Benin, King's Diver’ 🌟 Life Writing: Luke Liu for ‘Chair Tombs on the Hill’ www.wasafiri.org/news-and-eve...

‘What becomes of gender and sexuality amidst the collapse of the liberal world order?’ In this essay, Dr Abeera Khan from SOAS’s Department of Gender Studies examines our current moment as one after homonationalism, where ‘the sparse and vanishing wages of inclusion lie exposed.’ buff.ly/vKAZqnk

Huge congratulations to Feryal Ali-Gauhar, AN ABUNDANCE OF WILD ROSES has won the 2025 @banffcentre.bsky.social Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival Mountain Fiction & Poetry Award! ‘The language sings, weaving a spell’ @wasafirimag.bsky.social

Only 1 week left to apply for an editorial placement at Wasafiri – gain invaluable experience within an internationally recognised academic and literary journal. DEADLINE: Midnight, Sunday, 2 November Apply here: buff.ly/2GT6zWi

Poetry London (@poetrylondon.bsky.social) launches its Autumn issue at the Southbank Centre this Sunday, 2 November 2025. Featuring readings by Marjorie Lotfi, Nick Makoha, and Michael Symmons Roberts, plus the announcement of this year’s Poetry London Prize winners. Tickets:

Catch award-winning writer and translator, @antonhur.com, deliver a public lecture in London this Wednesday, 29 October. Anton will contemplate Han Kang's 2024 Nobel Prize win, alongside a wider discussion on literary prizes, translation, and the Anglophone publishing landscape. buff.ly/2L3Apbb

In celebration of International Artists' Day today, we're launching a new bundle curated by our Art Editor, Leon Wainwright. These four issues gather some of the strongest art writing from our archive, all for the discounted price of £38. 🎨 buff.ly/0J6TIAi

Last chance to get a ticket for an intimate writing workshop with 2025 International Booker Prize winner Deepa Bhasthi! Taking place online tomorrow from 11am. buff.ly/BVaU8d2

Only one week to go until our annual ceremony for the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize – one of the world's top prizes for emerging writers around the globe! Come celebrate with us at the Southbank Centre next Thursday, 30 October from 7pm! Tickets available here:

Poet @seanwaikeung.bsky.social reads his poem, ‘be like 水’, inspired by family, (un)belonging, and Bruce Lee, published in our latest issue, Wasafiri 123. The poem is published in Wasafiri 123. The issue includes poetry from Rupam Baoni, Erica Hesketh, Chime Lama, and more. buff.ly/eeKtUFC

Our heartiest congratulations to Dr @noreenmasud.bsky.social, who has been awarded a prestigious Philip @leverhulme.ac.uk Prize — one of only 30 recipients from across the UK who will receive £100,000. Catch Noreen at our 2025 New Writing Prize ceremony next Thursday, 30 October!

This is so interesting! Just one quote from it: "Don’t treat yourself like a translation factory, you are a couturier of words. Make it bespoke. "

We've got three different literary prize readings and ceremonies at this year's #LondonLiteratureFestival, so I spoke to representatives from the @forwardprizes.bsky.social, @wasafirimag.bsky.social and @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social to understand what goes into deciding literary prizes.

We are delighted to announce Wasafiri's new Writer in Residence — writer, performer, and artivist Cara Thompson, in partnership with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature! Read the full announcement: buff.ly/1In1pLQ

Wasafiri remembers Zoë Wicomb, who passed away recently on 13 October, 2025. In celebration of her life and work, we are making her short story, 'In Search of Tommie', from our 25th anniversary issue, free to access until the end of the month. Read now: buff.ly/CdQQOLF

Want to hear from contemporary poets about their craft? Enjoy in-depth and engaging conversations on craft? Then head to our YouTube channel and check out our sub(VERSE)ive playlist: a limited series of discussions hosted by Prerana Kumar. buff.ly/L97Y1Ge

Our friends @applesandsnakes.bsky.social are launching Series 4 of their podcast! Starting Tuesday, 10 Black British performance poets and artists speak openly about their craft, reflecting on how poetry transforms personal experiences into empowering moments that connect us all.

Learn from an International Booker Prize-winning translator, Deepa Bhasthi, in a series of intimate online workshops starting next week! The first workshop is next Saturday, 25 October, and will cover key reading-adjacent skills needed for a translator to improve their practice.

Ahead of @antonhur.com's upcoming translation workshop and public lecture in London this month, we spoke to the writer and translator about his writing habits and rituals, books he returns to, the art of translation, and more. Book your spot for his events via our website.

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Zoë Wicomb. A writer, scholar, and critic, Zoë gained international recognition with the publication of YOU CAN'T GET LOST IN CAPE TOWN in 1987. Wasafiri is privileged to have published her work in our 25th and 35th anniversary issues.

As a small thank you to all our event attendees this month, we'd like to offer a 10% discount on any of our 2025 magazines and subscriptions! Simply DM us a photo of your booking and we'll send you the discount code (valid until 30 November 2025).

Thanks to all who attended our first ever event in the UAE this summer at Alserkal Avenue with Khaled Esguerra, Juan Gonzales, and Carlos Páez González – contributors to Wasafiri 122: The UAE Issue. It was an afternoon of rich discussion, performances, and warmth. 📷Photography by Nathaniel Enriquez

Wasafiri has been around for over four decades, publishing diverse, international writing in print and online. Now, we need your help in shaping and informing what the next 40 years will look like for us. Fill out our short survey to shape the future of Wasafiri. buff.ly/H9IhNj8

What can we learn from the political organisers who came before us? Read an extract from the forthcoming collection, WE ARE EACH OTHER'S LIBERATION: BLACK AND ASIAN FEMINIST SOLIDARITIES, edited by Rachel Kuo, Jaimee A. Swift, and TD Tso (@haymarketbooks.org). www.wasafiri.org/content/excl...

📚 @wasafirimag.bsky.social x Tagore’s Salon Join us for Writing Through Pain: On Labour and Literature with writers Dur e Aziz Amna & Farah Ali Oct 15 | 7PM | Brick Lane Bookshop A conversation on illness, survival, and the work of writing. 🎟️ bricklanebookshop.org/product/tago...

ICYMI: Our event with Birmingham Lit Fest is taking place this Saturday at 5pm! There's a few tickets left so grab them now to hear @sanagoyal.bsky.social in conversation with Dalia Al-Dujaili and SJ Kim. buff.ly/UZQmJ3G

📣 Check out these workshops with ALTA mentor Deepa Bhasti at Wasafiri! 👇

Our latest issue's Reviews section includes Omar El Akkad's ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS; 2025 International Booker Prize winner HEART LAMP; Sulaiman Addonia's THE SEERS; Pankaj Mishra's THE WORLD AFTER GAZA; and more. Read them all in Wasafiri 123: buff.ly/koGOx7a

To complement the special section on Tibet in our latest issue, Wasafiri 123, we've made Rupam Baoni's short story 'Sky-burial' from Wasafiri 95 – on an exiled woman in Tibet – free to access and download all October. Read here: buff.ly/yqtr7KN

'To speak with Christina Sharpe is to converse with a constellation' - Guy Gunaratne In this extract from Wasafiri 123, Christina Sharpe speaks to @guygunaratne.bsky.social about the origins behind her most recent work — ORDINARY NOTES. buff.ly/P3ittBD

🚨Internship Alert! An opportunity is available for a @chase-dtp.bsky.social-funded PhD student to join Wasafiri on a year-long editorial placement, providing invaluable experience within an academic and literary journal. DEADLINE: Midnight, Sunday, 2 November 2025

We've curated a selection of relevant reading materials for Black History Month. These issues focus on how we aesthetically and politically reckon with the Windrush scandal, as well as exploring The Caribbean Artists Movement and the Black British canon.

Come join us at our many October events! From a conversation on belonging to writing when the world is ill, from a translators' pitching workshop to a public lecture on literary prizes, we have a lot happening this month! All ticket links available in our bio. See you there!